Hey, so, I'm home. My laptop's still squirreled away in a drawer at the office, but one of my roomies was nice enough to lend me his.

The trip was pretty fabulous, and I'll have photos and stories later if everyone wants. I have to catch up on holiday exchange comments (and responses), various posted things, ninety kajillionyuletide fic, etc . . . and work is likely to descend into madness almost immediately (I'm back tomorrow). So I should probably go to bed, but first!

Holiday exchanges were lovely this year, though I was sad to be away for much of the posting & anonymity. Now that the reveals are all done, however, I figured I'd share.

For yuletide, I wrote a little story based on the comic series Hopeless Savages, which is far and away the most obscure fandom I've tried yet. any taste that you feel is right describes a day in which young Twitch Strummer Hopeless-Savage feels a little off-balance, but the usual familial antics help to put things right. I'm a little shaky on this one, it feels like . . . it could have been longer? Or possibly just worked better as a comic. Prose is kind of awkward and difficult for me these days. Need to work on that.

I also received some lovely gifts. :) From mandyvonblandy, a cute little Good Omens comic in which Crowley's Christmas card upsets Aziraphale's sense of propriety. From derawr, a classic (flying) moonlight kiss, starring Karolina & Nico from Runaways. And from hikaru, Nothing Is Innocent Now, a sensual coda to Sarah Waters' Fingersmith. Much appreciated. ♥

I've been trying not to crash for hours, but I really should go do that already. I hope you guys enjoy the art. Happy New Year, I missed you all!

I've been seriously cranky a whole lot lately, and I'd just as soon spare you guys that. However! It being September, some of the holiday fests are starting to put out announcements. (Already! Four ridiculous months of excitement, give or take.) That cheers me right up. I love drawing stuff for people. :)

I'd imagine that most of the Good Omens fans on my flist have already heard of go_exchange (a fic and art exchange, it's fabulous), which is in its fourth year now. (Last year I did a two-page comic! No idea how I'm going to top that, meep.) However. I have a few more fanartists (hi fanartists, hi!) around now than I had a year ago, so I have to try and tempt you into yuletart.

yuletart is a multifandom fanart exchange. ("Fanart" here means things like drawings, paintings, various wacky crafts . . . but not manips or icons.) It's modeled after yuletide, a bit, except that it takes any fandom (except Harry Potter, which is not exactly hurting for fanart). Any fandom of any size! From your most obscure book series (or indie comic series, ahem) to your giant fannish behemoths (say, bandom).

So yes! You should totally check it out. Fandom nominations open up for new participants on September 20, and sign-ups start October 1. You are all so talented, bbs; your participation would make the fest that much more amazing. ♥

Instead of just doing a holiday exchange roundup post, I'm doing one for my whole fannish year. 2007 wasn't terribly productive for me, but what the heck. (Also, this is almost entirely fanart, with just the one piece of fanfiction for yuletide.)

I was going to wait for the go_exchange reveal, but it's still not up and I'm impatient. Anyway, anyone who is the least bit familiar with my art would recognize my piece in a second.

Well, that's that. Although, the holiday exchanges aren't over quite yet: yuletart just started posting today, and new fanart will be going up all month! Check it out, it's sure to be fantastic. I'm already the recipient of a rather lovely gift, and I can't wait to see what else the challenge has in store.

As for this year, I want to do more fanart. (For one thing, I must draw something Avatar-related! Gah!) Unfortunately, I won't have anything new for a bit (maybe a month or so), as I'd like to earn a few paychecks before purchasing a new copy of Photoshop (thank goodness for my dad's academic discount, also).

I'm having a bit of a fresh start this year, what with a new job in a new city. Maybe I'll add to that by making this the first year I write for the New Year's Resolution challenge as well. ;)

I am such a lucky fangirl today! I received not one, but two fantastic Yuletide stories: a lovely lengthy fic, and an adorable little Treat as well. I must rec them!

ParklifeFandom: From Eroica With LovePairing: Klaus/DorianCategory: preslashRating: PGDescription: "Klaus gets assistance from Dorian on a mission, and appreciates it about as much as he ever does."Comments: This story is rather fantastic. It's beautifully in character (how I love cantankerous Klaus and breezy Dorian!), with a fun plot and lovely style (it's half banter, half meandering description). It's a bit . . . relaxed? in comparison to the manga, but honestly, that's something I look for in fic. ;) Plus, a bonus: titled after a blur song! Which makes me wonder if my author was just lucky, or really thorough. I love this story so much.

The Lady and the DragonFandom: Excalibur (1988 comic)Pairing: Rachel/KittyCategory: gen (or very subtle femslash, if you like)Rating: GDescription: "The Cross-Time Caper continues apace, and Kurt has a thrilling tale to tell Kitty and Rachel."Comments: So adorable! This fits right into canon, and really brings to mind everything I love about the classic Excalibur tales. It's zany, slapsticky, and a bit touching all at once. The characters are just right: Kurt's dashing but inevitably trips up a bit, Kitty is a bit geeky and grumbly and young (I miss her like that), and Rachel, as always, a bit haunted. The central conceit of the story was appropriately bizarre and hit-you-over-the-head symbolic, and just, awwww. I love them. :) Bonus: yay Lockheed!Quote: "Blech! Why do I always have to be the princess? This is, like, the third time! Don't any of these dimensions need, I don't know, computer programmers? Or superheroes? Or theoretical physicists?"

While I'm at it, there's also my sweet little go_exchange story, though it was already posted awhile ago:

Father Christmas, Father TimeFandom: Good OmensCharacters: Agnes Nutter, Anathema Device, Newton PulsiferCategory: genRating: PGDescription: "Holiday traditions, whether forbidden or irritating, don't change."Comments: I never expected to actually get an Anathema-centric story--she's one of my favorite characters in the novel, and tragically underused in fandom--so I was thrilled to receive this. It's a sweet, slightly wry little look at family traditions in two different generations, with neat parallels. :)

Well, I have more family things to attend to. I can't wait to sink my teeth into the yuletide archive, though I probably won't have much leisure to do so 'til after the New Year--I'm moving at the end of the week!

It's December now, so I'm allowed to listen to as much Christmas music as I like. ;)

Whee. I finally got my go_exchange entry done and in (just under the wire). Now I'm all excited! I don't know if they're going to start posting entries today or tomorrow, but eee. It's been awhile since I paid much attention to Good Omens fandom, but working on a gift exchange will bring it all back quite nicely. ^^

So the reveal isn't until New Year's, and being me, I can't stand waiting to post my art 'til then. So, this post is filtered! And if you'd rather wait to look, you can do that too . . . I'll probably do a holiday exchange wrap-up post, with all of my various entries, sometime around the beginning of January.

Well, now that all the rush and lovliness of holiday exchanges has passed . . . I don't expect to be around fandom much for awhile. I'm up to my neck in a job search mess, and I rather need to concentrate.

Of course, we'll see how that goes (the staying away from fandom, I mean). I would like to do comica_obscura again (and be more involved than previously). Also, the long-awaited season four of Kim Possible starts in February, and that's my most prolific fanart fandom, so. ^^;

But in the meantime, I'm off for a bit. Before I do, though, have a peek at my go_exchange entry, drawn for the talented winkout. I'm rather pleased with it.

Hallelujah for fandoms with art exchanges! I think go_exchange is going to be a keeper (it's an interesting balance for yuletide). It's just nice to be in a fandom that has artists; I've been neglecting Good Omens. This should stop. (There's not a lot of femslash potential, alas--still don't quite get the Pepper/War thing, though it's visually appealing--but in many ways the subject matter is more true to my usual range of interests than action cartoons and comics.)

Can't show you guys my entry yet (though I'm sure those of you who know my stuff would recognize it), but I'm really pretty pleased with my work, and the response has been pretty gratifying too.

yuletide is a bit of a struggle . . . I'm going to be up to the last minute there, as always. It's just a very different kind of story than I've written before; based largely on plot and specific setting, rather than character interaction and emotionally-charged visual detail. I'm having a love affair with the source material, though, just like last year. Yay. (I also get to beta fic in two fandoms that I really enjoy, so it's working out to be an altogether satisfying experience. I'm not going to have any energy left to pinch-hit, though, unless it's one of the post-Christmas ones.)

The holidays are generally eating my soul (I have an ambitious card project on top of these fandom exchanges, and all the usual family stuff), so there hasn't been any other recent fanart, and very little passive participation. No time to read fic, and most of my shows are on break (though Stargate: Atlantis was freaking fantastic this week). Oh, and I've dropped Torchwood, because it's frankly too stupid to be believed. What a shame.

I may manage a holiday card for my fan-folks . . . not sure. If not, see you on the other side of Christmas, people, and a merry Solsti-Hannu-Kwan-Christ-Yule to everyone.